


No smoke without Fire

by Jezmatron



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra is clever, Disaster Lesbian Adora, F/F, Firefighters, Modern AU, did not think this through, too clever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27127378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jezmatron/pseuds/Jezmatron
Summary: Adora is a firefighter - she lives to do well by her community.But currently she finds herself back at the same damn apartment block rescuing cats and putting out trash fires whilst a certain hetero-chromatic eyed girl watches.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 55
Kudos: 350





	No smoke without Fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kndl2ley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kndl2ley/gifts).



> A one shot inspired by Kndl2ley who gave me the idea as prompt on Twitter!

The girl was  _ familiar.  _ It shouldn’t be the primary thought in Adora’s mind, not at that precise moment. Not when her main focus should be balancing off a ladder extended from the top of a fire-truck. Not when trying to reach a cat in a tree. A cat that looked far too comfortable to be, as the caller had said, ‘ _ Totally stuck. _ ’

Granted, the tree was  _ tall _ . Really tall. And Adora hadn’t a clue how the cat could’ve easily scaled the damn thing - no low branches until at least twenty feet up. No other nearby trees to jump from. Hell the nearest  _ building _ was twenty five feet away. The tree was part of some sort of municipal garden in between several blocks of apartments.

So, really, the cat was stuck. Except it wasn’t  _ acting _ stuck. It was washing itself and giving her a  _ very disinterested _ stare. If Adora had been a  _ cat person _ she would have assumed the damn thing could’ve left the tree at any point.

“You got the thing yet?” came a cry from below - Lonnie, who sounded  _ bored _ . Adora huffed as she reached again. The cat stood and Adora felt a faint twinge of hope. And then the damn thing hopped up to a  _ higher branch _ .

Adora gave a stifled screech of rage, “Are we sure the owner doesn’t want  _ mittens _ instead?” she grumbled.

Which brought her thoughts back around to the familiar  _ girl _ .

Normally, cats-in-trees meant some old lady and it was all a bit of a laugh; coffee and baked goods; let the neighbourhood kids play with the siren. Good, safe,  _ fun _ . Community outreach.  Yet it always left Adora feeling a bit  _ frustrated _ \- it didn’t feel like firefighting,. Charging into a building, hauling people out of harm’s way; putting themselves between danger and those in trouble.

But Scorpia seemed to like it. She was the driver engineer on their vehicle and really  _ really _ enjoyed just getting out and about and  _ meeting _ people. Adora didn’t mind, exactly, but she was in it for the bigger things - knowing she’d saved a  _ life _ . Knowing she’d done more  _ good _ . Putting other people first, y’know? Like she’d been brought up to.

Honestly? It helped deal with the demons, really. Helped make her feel a little better. Helped take her mind off of… being alone.

Cats in trees didn’t quite scratch the itch.

And cats in trees belonging to a girl who had a stare that seemed to undress Adora in mere seconds was  _ right  _ at the opposite end of itch scratching. Or not  _ that _ kind of itch.

A mane of dark brown hair and a pair of mismatched eyes that were so damn familiar. She had met the girl, or at least  _ seen _ her before. Granted, Brightmoon wasn’t exactly a bustling metropolis, but Adora didn’t exactly go out much; she didn’t take much vacation time; she barely socialised outside of the firehouse (Bow and Glimmer didn’t count - they were family. And with Glimmer away studying and Bow on his internship, she’d had even  _ less _ time)

The mystery of the strange-eyed girl could wait however. If she couldn’t fight a full blown blaze, she was going to get the damn cat out of the  _ damn tree _ .

“Scorpia! I am  _ this _ close to just chopping this thing down!”

“Uhhhh,” came the voice of Kyle, who was holding onto the other end of her guide rope - it was fastened to the end of the ladder, so if she fell she’d at least have  _ someone _ holding her, “I… I think that defeats the, y’know, point of… saving the cat?”   


“The cat DOES NOT WANT TO BE SAVED!” barked Adora.

“Ok Adora! I just need you to  _ breathe _ ? Can you do that? That’d be SWELL! You can DO THIS!” Scorpia’s reassuring tones drifted up from below and Adora rolled her eyes.

“It just went  _ higher _ !”

“Look, I’m sure that the nice people here don’t need to see you taking a chainsaw to a tree right now. Not exactly, y’know… great?”

Adora huffed and shook her head, then stared at the cat. It was perched  _ just _ out of reach on a branch above her. She leaned her arms against the top of the ladder and frowned at it, “You’re enjoying this.”

The cat stared back at her. She stared at the cat.

“You say something Adora?” Scorpia again.

“I’m negotiating.”

“Uhm… it’s a cat…”

“Precisely  _ why _ I’m negotiating,” she shouted back, then looked back at the feline and pushed the brim of her helmet up, “Look, I’ll level with you. I just want a coffee and to lie down before my shift ends. It’s been a  _ long _ day. Now, I bet you’re loving it up here.  _ But _ there’s a nice lady down there who misses you. And wants you to come home.”   


The cat tilted its head and studied her. It made  _ mrp _ noise as if questioning Adora. The blonde frowned, then turned to look down. She had to be careful - cat’s were good at balancing, at jumping. But she’d seen enough youtube videos to know that the damn things got  _ clumsy _ at the worst of times. Just jumping at it was probably a bad idea.

But Adora was the  _ queen _ of bad ideas. Her last two relationships were testament to  _ that _ .

She nonchalantly reached out and tugged the rope at her waist twice. Slowly the ladder rose again, bringing her level with the cat. She scratched at the branch, drawing the creature’s gaze: It was distracted.

She lunged.

And fell off the ladder. Her rope went taught and she heard Kyle  _ squeak _ from below as he was forced to take her weight. Which wasn’t considerable. But she did work out. So the poor guy was probably straining a  _ bit _ .

The cat hopped over her, onto the ladder, then descended in a manner that was  _ far _ too smug. Adora spun, a good twenty feet up, then, with a growl, twisted and grappled back onto the ladder. She descended and dismounted onto the roof of the truck. Kyle was still braced against the ladder and winced, “Warn a guy next time, Adora,” but he grinned at her. She snorted and patted him on the shoulder, then clambered down the side of the truck,

The cat sat on the rear footplate and gave her a smug purr. Adora snorted and reached out. The cat rubbed against her hand and meowed.

“Oh thank god. You are  _ such _ an asshole,” the voice tore Adora’s gaze from the cat and she found herself face to face with the reason they were here. Aside from the damn cat. She bristled at the words, then realised the girl was staring at the cat and clearly addressing the animal. Adora couldn’t help but shudder to a brief halt, however.

One golden eye, one blue. Crazy brown hair, freckles on tanned skin. And a smirk that made Adora want to argue. The blonde firefighter gestured to the feline, “Ta da. Tree, cat. Cat, tree. Magic.”

The girl blinked and snorted, “Yeah, gracefully done too. Wanted my cat rescued, not pancaked.”

The voice was snarky, a bit harsh, but the girl was smiling. Adora nodded curtly, “Well, we aim to please. I can leave a feedback card. We do appreciate five star reviews. Keeps us funded, y’know.”

The girl frowned faintly and it was a cute expression, “What, really?”

Adora couldn’t keep the grin off her face and it shifted into a half smirk, “Nah. But always appreciate a donation to the fund. If you have spare change. Glad to be of service ma’am.”

The blonde tore her gaze away from those eyes as Scorpia rounded the engine. She seemed distracted and glanced at the girl with a weirdly apologetic expression, “Hey Adora, good job. Just got a call from dispatch, gotta hustle.”

Adora nodded and tipped the brim of her helmet to the girl, then jogged to the cab. Kyle and Lonnie were seated already. Adora flopped into the front and Scorpia clambered in. with a flick of a switch, the sirens came to life and they pulled out of the green and between the apartment blocks, towards their next call.

\-----

Adora really should’ve cottoned on a few days later when they were back at the same block of apartments, in the same garden. To rescue the cat.

Again.

Adora glared up at the tree as Kyle ran out the ropes and Scorpia extended the ladder. She felt a presence next to her and found the cat’s owner stood next to her.

“No idea how they do it,” offered the girl, her voice light and cheerful. Not exactly  _ distraught _ .

“Happen often?” replied Adora, vaguely disinterested. Though she couldn’t help but glance at the girl. She had a tank top on and yoga pants. And they did her a  _ lot _ of justice.

“Eh, only recently,” the girl glanced at Adora and grinned. For her part Adora just shrugged.

“Well, we’re here now. You may want to keep the cat indoors. If this happens on the regular, y’know?” she smiled and rubbed the back of her neck, “Um, better go… save the cat. Again.”

She turned and moved away, not quite sure why she felt the need to. She felt a bit awkward. But then, socialising with the public wasn’t her strong suit - Scorpia tended to handle that. Adora just got a grin and looked like a doofus if she wasn’t careful. Sometimes, she had to admit, it  _ was _ nice to be fawned over. But it wasn’t the reason why she did the job. But sometimes… she let herself enjoy it. But right now? This flustered feeling? Nerves?

That was new.

The cat was more co-operative this time - it seemed more bored being in the tree, as if the novelty had worn off. Adora actually managed to pick it up and held it to her as she climbed down, then held it out to the owner, like Rafiki and Simba - an awkward dangling pose with a very unimpressed cat at the end.

“Awwww Melog, does the tall dummy not know how to hold you?” the woman scooped the cat up and began to scritch its belly, which elicited a very self satisfied purr. Adora shrugged and grumbled.

“At your service,” she muttered then gave a slightly brittle smile at the girl’s frown which swung her way, “Have a good day now.”

She spun on her heel and headed to the cab, then clambered in. For some reason she felt a bit grumpy. Like she’d maybe missed something.

She didn’t have time to mope before they were on their way to their next job.

  
  


\-----------------------

She really should have worked it out the third time. Honestly.

Sea Hawk being there was the first clue that  _ something _ was weird. But they’d had a long shift, a really unpleasant house fire. Two people in hospital. But they’d still been on call. So here they were.

To put out a fire in a  _ trash can _ .

Adora pursed her lips and stared at the blaze.

It was a  _ tiny  _ bit more than a trashcan fire.

It was several trashcans and a dumpster.

Behind her, she heard Lonnie whistle. Scorpia was busy unloading the hoses. Adora turned to her right, where Sea Hawk stood.

He was a  _ known _ issue. Not an arsonist. Not really. He ran an outdoor catering firm. They did barbecues. Except Sea Hawk’s were slightly accident prone; to such a degree it was a  _ selling _ point - performance art with your food (If only his customers  _ knew!)  _

But there was no sign of a barbecue, or a marquee or  _ any _ sort of external catering. She dragged a hand down her face and managed, with a tension in her voice, to ask, “What. Happened?”

“Well, you see, I was  _ reconnoitering _ this  _ fine  _ locale as a venue for a potential spot, at the behest of a friend and well, she wanted some advice on…”

“SEA HAWK, I got some water and I reckon we’ve got time before they get - oh, um… hi,” the girl  _ again _ . Adora stared at her. For some reason, the brunette looked  _ embarrassed _ , her lower lip held between her teeth, her expression a single twitch away from a wince.

She had on ripped jeans and a hoodie. And  _ damn _ if she didn’t look good. She also had a bucket of water. Adora glanced at it, then looked at the raging,  _ literal _ dumpster fire fifty feet away. The girl looked at the bucket, at the (multiple) fires and shrugged, “Every little helps right?”

They got the blazes sorted in fairly quick time, then they clambered into the truck and rolled away. The girl had watched and seemed about to say something, but Adora had been focused on giving Sea Hawk a quiet dressing down about  _ disposing of flammable items _ in regular trash bins. And how if it happened again that  _ Mermista _ would find out.

That had sent the man scampering away. Before she’d gone, the girl had looked strangle relieved, but Adora had brushed that off.

\----------

The last time Adora should’ve really, honestly,  _ truly _ guessed.

She was a good firefighter. She charged into buildings, saved people, liberated animals from various situations! 

She was, however, rather bad at making connections. Spotting patterns. Catching threads. Or hints. Or ideas.

Glimmer always beat her at pictionary during their regular BFS game nights. She was often genuinely surprised at the twists in procedural cop shows. Even ones she’d seen before.

So, when they turned up at the  _ same _ apartment block, she was more irritated at people  _ just not learning _ . Clearly the safety standards in this place around pet care and simple  _ waste disposal _ were just… terrible.

And she wasn’t looking forward to seeing the two-toned-eye girl. Nope. Not at all. Nuh uh.

Adora wasn’t sure what to do with  _ flustered _ as an emotional experience, mainly.

She heard Scorpia grumbling as they all dismounted and frowned as Lonnie and Kyle exchanged a knowing look. She stood next to the engine and noticed that there was a bit of a crowd. Clearly they were becoming a bit of a regular attraction themselves. She peered up at the  _ damn tree _ but couldn’t make out much through the branches.

The ladder went up and Adora checked her harness. Kyle gave her a thumbs up and began to ascend. She glanced around but couldn’t see the owner anywhere. Which was weird. Maybe it was someone else’s cat this time.

With a grumble, she broke through the leaf layer and looked up. And froze.

“Heyyyyy Adora,” trilled a familiar voice.

The blonde stared at the  _ girl _ . She was perched quite comfortably on a branch, legs swinging below her idly. She grinned and tilted her head. Adora opened her mouth, then closed it, then looked around, “Um. Here… cat. Find?”

“Mhm?” smiled the girl.

“CAT! Here to rescue a cat. You haven’t seen one have you.”   


“You usually ask directions from girls in trees?”

Adora coughed and licked her lips, feeling that familiar slightly-out-of-her-depth feeling again, “So…. no cat?”

The girl grinned, then extended a hand, “Catra.”

“Huh?”

“My name. Catra.”   


Adora stared at her, then reached out and shook the hand in a daze, “So, um… cat? Why are you in the tree.”

“Well, you are here to rescue a cat. Maybe it got lost in translation?” the voice was innocent but the smirk was anything but. Adora frowned at her and then reached out.

“Well, um… come on then.”   


“Oh I couldn’t possibly. It’s  _ so _ high up,” the voice was laced with insincerity and the grin sold it, “I need you to come and get me.”   


Adora huffed, then clambered onto the branch and began to inch along it. And then the ladder  _ moved _ away, “Wh...what the  _ hell _ ? SCORPIA?”

Catra leaned over and shouted, “Thanks Scorp! I think I got it from here!”   


The driver-engineer’s voice came from below, “You better, Wildcat. I mean,  _ really!  _ I’m all for gestures but SERIOUSLY? Last time, ok?”

Adora looked bamboozled, “You know Scorpia?”

“Yep, college roommates. She’s… good people,” Catra smiled at Adora, “So’re you.”

“Umm… you… don’t know me?”

“Well, no, not  _ really _ . I know  _ about _ you. Scorpia talks about you so much! And then, well, there was that fundraiser she dragged me to and,... I saw you there and…” Catra actually blushed. Adora blinked and snapped her fingers.

“I KNEW I recognised you!”

Catra blinked, “Oh, so… um…”

Adora adjusted herself carefully on the branch and winced, “Yeah… um… recognised your, uh… your eyes.”

The girl grinned and shrugged, “Hey, points to me, she remembers!”

The blonde harrumphed and looked around, her chest fluttering slightly, “So um… what’s this.”

“Well I didn’t have your number.”

Adora blinked, then leaned back from the girl, “Huh?”

“You know how hard it was to persuade Melog to climb the tree? Twice? I owe that cat like, premium cat food.”

“Wait, what?”

“And then Sea Hawk offered a  _ controlled _ fire to… get your attention. But… yeah I should’ve listened to Mermista, Don’t trust the idiot.”

“You know  _ Mermista _ ?!”

“And, well, Scorpia was getting a bit impatient. I kept bugging her for shift times and planned it out. But then you left before I got a word out, each time! And I wasn’t sure if you were interested and, well… y’know?”

Adora shook her head and stared out into the middle distance, “Huh.”

Catra grinned, “So, yeah, last hurrah, y’know? Go big or go home? Get your attention. Think I’ve pushed it a bit with Scorpia.”   


“You… could have… just asked her for my number?”

Catra blinked, “H-uh. She mentioned that. But I was like,  _ nawwww _ , she’ll only pay attention to like, big stuff! Hero!” Catra punched the air and giggled, a raspy, throaty sound, which trailed off, “And, um… yeah. Was scared you wouldn’t call? I mean, I’m the girl with the cat, right? And my usual approach of snark and play hard to get? You’re, “ she waved a hand up and down at Adora, “Big, muscular firefighter beating people off with a stick. And…. Yeah…. You are  _ dense _ .”

Adora stared at her and coughed, “Dense? That’s your line?”

Catra winced, “Yeah? I mean, how obvious did I have to be? I’ve literally got you in a tree right now and I have no idea… um… what to do… to get you to notice me?” The blonde stared at her as her brain shunted a few ideas into place, “So, um… just so I’m clear on this. Your cat wasn’t in any real danger?”

“Nah. I swear it does Parkour. Fast little asshole. Up and down this tree as they like.”

“And you… nearly burned down your block.”

“NO! Well, nearly…. But! Yes, it was dumb… but we did it away from flammables, away from gas mains and in easily isolated locations. Sea Hawk knows his fire. He does run a successful entertainment business.”

“You do know he doesn’t  _ mean _ to do half that stuff, right?”

Catra blinked, “Ah. I see how that could be… an issue,” she winced and slumped, “So, um, in retrospect this was…. Ugh I feel like an idiot.”

Adora continued to stare, “You like me.”

Catra didn’t seem to hear her, “Of course I go overboard. Like, why  _ didn’t _ I just phone. Or try a text. Or slip you my number like a  _ normal _ person. I mean, this is wedding proposal tier stuff!”

“You…  _ like _ like me….”

“And then, oh wow, Scorpia must just be so  _ pissed _ at me and…”

“Saturday, seven o’clock, the Crimson Bistro.”

Catra paused, then looked at Adora, “...huh?”

“It’s a casual place, so, well, whatever you feel comfortable in, I’ll pick you up at six thirty.”

The brunette worked her jaw, “Um…”

Adora turned to her and frowned, “And you said I’m dense. You want a date or not, Catra?”

Catra nodded vigorously, “Yes. Yes that would be… good.”

“Good.”

“Yes. “

“Excellent.”

“Awesome.”

Adora smirked, then looked around, “So, all this just to get me to notice you?”

“Shut up.”

“Seems like you  _ like _ me.”

“Well… duh. I mean, not  _ like _ you. Just, y’know…”

“I mean, I admire the effort, too. Even if it did nearly burn down your apartment.”

“Hey, yeah I… that was  _ dumb _ .”   


“Yep.”   


“Ass.”   


“Yep,” Adora smirked again and blew out a sigh, “But… this was weirdly nice. No one’s done something like this for me. Ever. So… thank you.”

“You’re… welcome?” Catra shuffled on the branch, “Though I still feel… really dumb.”

Adora shrugged, “We’re here now,” and she reached over to clasp Catra’s hand. She looked down at the ground far below, “So… how long did you ask Scorpia to wait?”

“Oh I said I’d call.”

“That would’ve been mega awkward if this hadn’t gone well,” Adora remarked and gave Catra the side eye. 

The girl blanched and nodded slowly. “I… did not think of that.”

“Bold of you to assume.”

“Honestly, I’d have probably just tried climbing down. Or up,” she looked at Adora, “This isn’t, like… a ploy, so I get down and then you run off?”

Adora cocked her head and snorted, “You  _ do _ like me!”

“Shut up!”

“You’re cute when you’re flustered. Maybe you should’ve led with that,” Adora grinned as Catra tried to glare at her, “So, how ‘bout you call Scorpia? And then I can carry you out of the tree.”

“You wouldn’t…”

“I think you owe me,” smirked Adora.

She did carry her down the ladder, bridal style, to the applause of the firefighters and the gathered crowd. Clearly a lot of people had been in Catra’s corner. Adora still wondered why no one had just suggested, maybe… talking to her? Or a simple number exchange?

But she couldn’t deny the gesture was absolutely, ridiculously cute. And, frankly… it worked.

And, as they finally exchanged numbers  _ properly _ , bathed in the flashing blue and red lights of the engine, Adora hoped she’d get to carry Catra again… in a more specific circumstance. Preferably involving white.

After all, Adora was one for charging headfirst into crazy situations without really thinking it through. All or nothing

And so, it seemed, was Catra.

Admittedly, when the time came, it took Adora about the same amount of time to work it out and Catra the same amount of effort to get there in the first place. But as Catra slipped that ring onto Adora’s finger several months later, after a particularly chaotic series of contrived events which le to the brunette going down on one knee in that same garden under that same tree, they both agreed it was  _ very _ worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> AS ever, leave a comment. The ending was a bit trickier... but I may edit it.
> 
> For now! LET ME KNOW IF YOU LIKED IT! Just a simple, rapid fire one shot to show what I can do with these two idiots :D


End file.
